


Concessions of Power

by Obsessivecompulsivereadr



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: M/M, not really Malec heavy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 13:10:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9386711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Obsessivecompulsivereadr/pseuds/Obsessivecompulsivereadr
Summary: At times, people tended to forget just how old Magnus was and just how deceptive he could be about his power.  He could scarcely blame them.  He spent most of his time attending to the needs of the warlocks he’d taught, the downworlders he protected, and the mundanes he was tasked to help.  Those people saw him once or twice, reaped the benefits of his knowledge, magic, and skill, and then they were gone from his life until they needed his assistance again.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Full disclosure: I sort of love Raj and Victor Aldertree. Raj is hilarious, and I think if Aldertree and Magnus joined forces (once Aldertree got his head out of his ass) then they could single-handedly take over the Clave. Raj would be there to simultaneously roll his eyes, bemoan his own existence, and wish he'd taken a permanent vacation. And Alec would finally get a chance to eat something. Also, I lowkey ship Victor/Raj. So there's a little hint of that in one section.

Maybe it was a product of his immortality, or maybe it was just an aspect of Magnus Bane’s own unique parentage, but when he fell in love with someone, he fell hard and fast.  And he _always_ got hurt.  Or if by some twist of fate he didn’t get hurt, it was only because he’d taken his bow and ended the relationship before he’d had a chance to fall in love.  

Immortality had taught him both what he wanted for himself and what he didn’t want for himself.  His entire life was an education in itself.  His decades had turned to centuries, and Magnus had lived and breathed and survived through every year, both the painful ones and the ones that he would remember fondly.  

He often told stories of historical points in time that he’d been present for and blessed to witness, but he also told entirely fabricated stories because that was simply fun.  Who would challenge him?  Who would call him out for a liar when they couldn’t possibly know?  Since their lifetimes were but a speck compared to the length of his.  

At times, people tended to forget just how old Magnus was and just how deceptive he could be about his power.  He could scarcely blame them.  He spent most of his time attending to the needs of the warlocks he’d taught, the downworlders he protected, and the mundanes he was tasked to help.  Those people saw him once or twice, reaped the benefits of his knowledge, magic, and skill, and then they were gone from his life until they needed his assistance again.  

Thus was the role of a High Warlock.

He had few friends, and among those were people just as powerful as he.  Also among his friends were downworlders, like Luke Garroway.  Raphael Santiago, and now, as much as he’d probably grow to regret their bond, Simon Lewis.  

He counted very few shadowhunters as friends simply because of the dynamic between shadowhunters and downworlders.  Few shadowhunters could be trusted due to their innate biases against downworlders.  And even against him, despite his power.  Shadowhunters often forgot how much they relied on Magnus’s kind to protect them.  He knew at least seven different warlocks of varying degrees of power who had lost their lives in the name of helping shadowhunters.  His very dear cabbage, Ragnor Fell, had been one of them.  

Once their jobs were finished, downworlders were dismissed.  Ignored.  Left to attend to the aftermath and to cleanse their palates of the distaste.  Left to repair whatever damage the shadowhunters had wreaked, as Magnus had been the one left to handle Ragnor.  

It’s not that he blamed either Jace Wayland or Clary Fairchild for Ragnor’s death because he didn’t.  Neither were responsible, either directly or indirectly.  Magnus was the one culpable for leading them to Ragnor’s home, so he would always feel responsible for it.  His friend’s death was brushed off by shadowhunters as a byproduct of the war.  Killed by a demon sent after him, one that had slipped through the cracks of Ragnor’s defenses once they’d found him.  The consequence that Magnus has seen time after time when warlocks and other downworlders became involved in the shadowhunter world.  

He’d mourned his friend, and he continued to mourn.  Would most likely always mourn Ragnor during the centuries that would come.  He would never forget his own responsibility, though Ragnor himself would deny it existed in the first place.  The demon was the one responsible, as was the evil who’d sent it to eliminate Ragnor.

Magnus well knew that demons were the focus of each shadowhunter hunt, and that demon hunting rid the world of beings that fed on pain and suffering and destroyed everything in their paths.  He knew this, and yet it was the way most shadowhunters used the word demon that Magnus could not tolerate.  

Shadowhunters, with their angelic blood and ties to Raziel, often forgot that Asmodeus, Magnus’s own father, was a fallen angel himself.  Was greater to them in power and would always be.  And while Magnus did not inherit everything from his father, he had a depth and breadth of power that shadowhunters could never imagine.  Their dismissal of demons included a dismissal of Magnus himself, and that was where most shadowhunters made their mistakes.  

He was willing to tolerate their bias and condescension for only so long before his patience ran out.  Which is why he tried to stay out of shadowhunter affairs, so as not to lose his temper.  They were a tiresome lot, so enamored of their angel connections, so convinced of their superiority over downworlders and mundanes. So unwilling to budge even the slightest amount even when faced with proof of their bias and misguided laws.  

Over the years, very few shadowhunters had ever impressed him.  Very few had proven to be more than what their culture had created them to be.  He’d been blessed to have known a few in his centuries of life, and he was blessed to know at least one during this century.  

Alec Lightwood.  Magnus was sure that if he lived even just a few more centuries he would never meet another shadowhunter quite like Alec.  

Alec was supposed to have been just a little taste of fun.  Uncomplicated.  From the moment Magnus had seen the shadowhunter in the club, retrieving an arrow from an assassin bent on killing Magnus, he had been fascinated by Alec.  He was interested from the beginning and had come on strong, which was his usual method of getting what he wanted.  

But then Alec had morphed from someone Magnus just wanted to someone Magnus wanted to get to know.  He hadn’t been so tempted by someone in decades, and he’d shut himself off to feeling things for anyone for very good reasons.  

Due to past relationships, past hurts, past betrayals.  Past mistakes.

But Alec Lightwood was a rarity in his world.  He’d suffered even as a member of the privileged shadowhunters because he couldn’t meet their requirements.  He couldn’t be what his family, what the Clave, what his culture wanted him to be.  And yet Alec tried.  Every day.  To be what others wanted.  To be strong and brave. Silently begging to be cared for simply for who he is and not for how much of a soldier he could be for the cause.

Magnus had ached for the fear in Alec’s voice when the memory demon had outed Alec’s love for Jace.  Though Magnus had tried to encourage him and remind him that there was nothing wrong with his feelings, Alec had dismissed it outright.  Ignored it.  Told Magnus he hadn’t known what Magnus was talking about.  

But those protests were transparent to Magnus, because he’d been there.  He’d seen that self-loathing every time he’d looked in a mirror.  While Alec’s self loathing had been for his attraction to men, Magnus’s had been for his demon parentage.  But regardless of the source of that loathing, the looks were the same. The attempts to remain stone-faced in spite of reminders of the truth.  The immediate denials.  The attempts to hide himself away.  The pretending to be someone else.  Anyone else.  

Magnus had worked through his issues.  Well mostly.  He couldn’t ever completely work through them because shadowhunters were never ones to allow warlocks to forget their demon sides.  No matter how much he’d proven himself over the centuries, no matter how much he’d protected them and helped them, no matter how much he’d worked to make downworlders lives a little easier to lead and thus less troublesome to the shadowhunters, they would never let him forget that he was just a ‘’warlock.”  

Despite the fact that his actions on behalf of Alec had been to save his life, and by extension return Jace Wayland to the fold, he would be punished for using his magic against shadowhunters.  For his actions against Raj.  For portaling Alec out of the Institute without permission.  For doing everything within his power to keep Alec alive.  

But he doubted that Victor Aldertree understood how little Magnus cared about punishments.  

The summons to report to Aldertree’s office had been almost ironic.  When shadowhunters were unable to control things, they tended to ban all downworlders from the Institute entirely.  As if just the mere presence of one could somehow upset their hold or usurp the power they hold so dear.    

Shadowhunters had power over them only because downworlders _allowed_ them that power.  With a flick of a hand, Magnus and others of his kind, other High Warlocks, could take it all away and the consequences to the Accords be damned.  But yet they continued on, pushing and dismissing and devaluing the very work that downworlders had done to establish the peace.  Though shadowhunters loved to reference the Accords as a response to every criticism, they forgot that the Accords were also what protected them from downworlder wrath.  

Raj, the very ‘victim’ of Magnus’s latest ‘crime’ stood in the hallway outside Aldertree’s office as Magnus approached.  They’d had one interaction since the night Magnus had assaulted him, and that hadn’t gone well.  

Magnus understood very well that Raj had merely been doing his job.  But Magnus had been doing his as well, and his job had been, at that moment in time, much more important than Raj’s.  

Raj had been keeping watch on Magnus and was to escort him out of the Institute if he could not help.  Magnus’s job was to _keep Alec alive._  

And Magnus would never apologize for doing whatever he needed to do to keep Alec alive.  

He’d lost his temper many times that night, and Raj’s indifference to Alec’s life had angered Magnus.  The man had cared nothing about Alec.  Whether he lived or died.  He’d cared only for following his orders.   _The law was the law_ , among the other trite expressions shadowhunters were fond of using, was all that was important to him.  To Aldertree.  Their condescension and frequent reminders that it was only by their allowance that Magnus had been there to help Alec at all had rankled him the entire night, set him on edge, and hindered his focus.  

Magnus had tapped into magic he’d rarely ever used when he’d sent Raj crashing into the wall.  He’d tapped into the depths of the power inherited from his father. 

The power to hurt.  The power to destroy.  The power for vengeance and wrath.  

Magnus was not proud of himself for it, but he would not apologize.  Raj had been lucky Magnus had tempered his assault.  Had he allowed the full force of his power course through Raj, Magnus would be facing a whole different trial right now.  A murder trial.

Raj stood near the mirror outside Aldertree’s office and watched as Magnus approached.  

He would not put it past Aldertree to have Raj not only present for the punishment announcement but also somehow involved in carrying it out.  

Magnus smirked as Raj stood silent, watching the unopened door leading to Aldertree’s office.  

“I see you’ve healed,” Magnus commented without making eye contact with the man.  

Raj snorted beside him.  He rather imagined the look on Raj’s face was similar to the one he’d given a few days prior, when Magnus had told him he looked well. But Magnus cared nothing about whether or not Raj approved of him, or if Aldertree approved of him.  It had been centuries since Magnus had cared about seeking people’s approval at all.

Magnus turned to him, “Raj, whether you believe it or not, I am glad you are well.”  

Raj turned to face him, “Of course you are.  You’d be facing additional punishment if I hadn’t survived your little attack.”  

“That is true.  However, that’s not the point I was attempting to make.  Tell me, Raj, do you have someone you care for?  A family member?  A significant other?  Someone you love in your life?”

“That’s none of your business,” Raj answered.  

Magnus nodded in agreement.  “True.  But I’m merely asking to prove a point to you.”  

Raj looked at him and answered, “Yes, of course I do.  Everyone has loved ones.”  

And while Magnus would disagree with that assumption, he chose not to argue with it.  He’d known plenty of people who no longer had loved ones.  Who lived their lives in solitude.  Either by their own choice or by a happenstance of their lives and their behaviors.  

“Are those loved ones shadowhunters as well?”  

Raj nodded.  

“Shadowhunters value family and honor, do they not?”  

“Yes.”

“How much honor would there have been in allowing Alec Lightwood to die simply as a consequence of following irrational orders?”    

Raj remained silent.  

“I do not care if you like me, and I certainly do not care if you respect me.  I’ve spent my entire life dealing with shadowhunters, and respect has very rarely ever been granted me.”  

“I was just following orders,” Raj replied though he now looked a bit uncomfortable with the conversation and turned his head back to the door.

“I understand that.  However, there are times when orders _should_ be questioned.  When the consequences of those orders is a useless death of someone who did not have to die.”  

Raj looked back at him again.  

“I will not apologize for my actions.  I was protecting someone I care about.  Someone I consider as close to me as family.  It angered me that a culture that claims to value family and honor would so easily allow someone I care about to die just to appease meaningless principles of law.”  

“Look,” Raj held out a hand to him, as if to stop Magnus from speaking.  “I know about you and Lightwood.  I wasn’t at that wedding, so I didn’t see what happened.  But the word of what he did reached Idris.  You don’t have to hide your reasons behind pretty words.  The spectacle had all of Idris talking for a week.”  

“So you understand,” Magnus replied.  

“As much as I’ll ever understand a Lightwood,” Raj answered.  “He’s chosen a downworlder and the Lightwoods and the Clave are not happy about it.”

“I doubt they ever will be,” Magnus said softly to himself.  

“But what you said a few minutes ago.  About family.  I understand _that_.”

“I would do it again,” Magnus said without apology.  

Raj nodded.

“So we have an understanding?” Magnus asked.

Raj rolled his eyes and continued to look just as unimpressed as when the conversation had begun, “If by understanding, you mean you stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours, then yes, we have an understanding.”  

“Good.”  

The door opened and Victor Aldertree ushered both of them inside.  

Victor had taken on the mantle of the Institute and had replaced Lydia Bramwell when circumstances had suggested that Lydia could not control the Jace Wayland situation.  Of course, what Lydia had been unable to control was _Alec_.  

But Magnus had come to find that there were few people who could control Alec when he was determined to save someone dear to him.  In that way, he and Magnus were very similar people.  

“Bane,” Aldertree nodded and gestured for him to have a seat.  

Raj entered as well and stood by the door.  Magnus wondered what exactly Raj’s job was for the Institute.  He seemed part bodyguard and part enforcer, and yet neither role seemed to fit the man very well.  He wasn’t brutish enough to be a proper enforcer and yet wasn’t protective enough to fit the bill of a bodyguard.  But whatever the order given by Aldertree, it seemed Raj was there to enforce it.

“Aldertree,” Magnus replied as he sat down.  “I believe we’re here to discuss my punishment?”  

“Yes,” Aldertree picked up a cup of tea and sat back in his chair.  “You don’t seem to care about that at all.  Is that usual with your people?”  

“Is it usual among your people to punish someone for trying to keep one of your people alive?”  

Aldertree frowned, “You violated the Accords with your actions.  You violated a direct order that Alec Lightwood not leave this Institute.  And you violated another when you used magic against a shadowhunter.”  

Magnus sighed and rolled his eyes with a shake of his head, “The Accords that your people love to drag out whenever you feel the need.  Have you forgotten that there exists an agreement to help each other when possible?”

“I do not forget the law.”  

“You just use it to your advantage and then conveniently ignore it when it doesn’t support your view then?”  

“Mr. Bane, you are lucky I’ve been willing to afford you even the smallest of concessions about this.”  

“Mr. Aldertree.  Sir,” Magnus said with a wink.  “I think you’ve forgotten how many concessions my people afford you and the Clave.”  

“Is that a threat?” Aldertree sat forward abruptly.  

“I do not need to make threats.  I’m simply reminding you that you and your kind need High Warlocks a great deal more than warlocks need shadowhunters.  I am the warlock the Clave runs to when their wards need repaired and their protections falter.  I am the warlock who is sought out for memory alterations when the shadowhunters at this Institute err in their judgement and a mundane becomes aware of their existence.  I have spent decades helping this Institute and its members. Even more decades before that assisting the Clave.  I personally took part in the creation of the Accords, so do not even attempt to condescend to me about what type of concessions shadowhunters will afford me.”  

Aldertree stood, “Then as a participant in the Accords, you cannot argue that you deserve punishment for using magic against a shadowhunter and for violating a direct order not to portal Alec Lightwood out of this Institute.”  

“I do not argue that you have the legal right to punish me under the Accords.  So punish me.  Do as you will,” Magnus sat back and crossed his legs.  “Just keep in mind that the punishment doesn’t prohibit the Clave from asking for my help in the future.  For example, I’d hate to have to tell the members of the Clave that I cannot be at their beck and call because of a pesky ban on entering the noble walls of this Institute,” Magnus gestured to the room at large.

“ _You will afford me the respect that I am due, Bane_.”  

Magnus stood and responded sharply, “ _And you will do the same for me._ ”  

He placed his hands on the desk and leaned forward, into Aldertree’s space.  “I do not like your methods, but I understand your passion for the law.  But there are times when orders should be questioned.  When laws should be broken.  When what is right should supersede what is _the law_.”

“That is not how the law works.”  

“Then the law should be changed.  And so should your biases.”  

“That is enough!” Aldertree replied.  

“I have a question for you, Mr. Aldertree.  Do you acknowledge that I have a distinctly unique relationship with Alec Lightwood?”  

Aldertree nodded, though he seemed to find distaste in the idea.  That wasn’t shocking.  Magnus often found that shadowhunters despised anyone who favored downworlders, and especially ones who’d formed relationships with them.  

“Then you will agree that as a,” Magnus waved his hand as he turned to walk around the office, “description, for lack of a better word, you could call that relationship a personal one?”  

Aldertree rolled his eyes, “The news of your relationship with Alec Lightwood has reached further than Alec himself realizes.”  

“Because of the failed wedding?” Magnus offered.

“Yes,” Aldertree agreed.  

“So then you would agree that the relationship would be classified as personal?”  

“Yes.”  

“The fourth Accords deemed that any magic used in a warlock-shadowhunter collaboration is no longer illegal.”  

“This was not a _collaboration_ ,” Aldertree.

“In what way?  Was I not acting alongside Isabelle Lightwood and Clary Fairchild?  Was I not acting in the best interests of returning Jace Wayland?  Was I not acting to keep the one link you had to Wayland alive so that he could turn himself in?”  

“That might excuse you portaling Alec out of the Institute but you used magic against a shadowhunter.”  

“That is where the question about the personal business comes into play.  Did we not just agree that due to my personal relationship with Alec, I have a right to call my dealings with him as part of my personal affairs?  My _internal_ affairs.”  

Magnus watched as Aldertree made the connection.  

The Accords forbid Nephilim interference in a situation that was considered private downworlder business.  By agreeing that Alec’s relationship with Magnus categorized them as being personally involved, Aldertree had also agreed that the shadowhunters had no authorization to interfere with anything Magnus and Alec were personally involved with.  Regardless of whether or not Alec was a downworlder, he was involved with one.  And saving Alec’s life definitely fell into the category of Magnus’s personal business.  And as such, neither Aldertree or Raj had authority to prevent Magnus from handling his personal business.

Magnus stepped back and waved his hands in a mock acceptance of guilt.  

“You may punish me because I’m _allowing you_ to punish me.  To grant you the chance to save face and keep your reputation here.  But do not mistake that for weakness or as an admission of fault.  I will not apologize for saving him, and I will not apologize for doing whatever I needed to do in order to accomplish that.  If I choose, I could have this entire issue brought out in court.  Since as a downworlder, I am allowed a court trial if accused of a crime.”  

But the Clave would not want that.  And neither did Magnus.  

A court trial would put Alec’s sexuality on display for all of Idris, and that was the last thing Magnus wanted him to endure.  So he would take his punishment. Gladly.  As long as Aldertree knew that while he may have legal power, Magnus had actual power and would not hesitate to use it.

Aldertree conceded.  “You are hereby sentenced to six months of probation.”  

Magnus sat down and crossed his legs again, “And what will I do during this..." he waved his hand dismissively, "probation?”

“You will mediate a new treaty between the werewolves and the vampires.”  

Magnus tilted his head and looked at the man, “I would do that anyway.  It’s part of my job as High Warlock.”  

“Camille Belacourt will need to be dealt with.  Rumor has it that she broke the Accords and created a new fledgling.”  

Simon.   He wondered if Aldertree was aware of his identity.  “That sounds like something she would do.”  

“I want information on her.”

“I will not spy on the clan.  If she broke the Accords, then the clan would have turned on her anyway.  They do not want a war any more than you do.”

“I’m not asking you to spy.  I’m asking for Camille to be brought in for questioning.”  

“If it’s only a rumor, then it’s downworlder business and should be handled by my people.”  

Magnus knew what Raphael had suspected would play out exactly as Raphael feared.  If Camille was found guilty of violating the Accords, then all vampires would be in danger.  

“Then investigate it,” Aldertree smirked, “and consider it as part of your probation.”  

“Agreed,” Magnus rose.  “Is there anything else?  Was Raj here for show or was he to testify as well?”  

“I’m sure Raj followed our discussion easily.”  

“Raj _is_ a smart man.  He and I have a understanding of a sort.”  

Raj rolled his eyes and Aldertree glanced over at him.  “Do you have anything to add, Raj?”

“No, sir,” Raj replied.  “We’ve spoken.  Outside.”  

“So there will be no more altercations between the two of you.”  

“Of course not,” Magnus answered for him.  “Raj and I pledge to get along famously from now on.”

“You may go,” Aldertree said.  "Raj, you stay." 

Magnus nodded at both men and then left the room.  

 

  
  


“How did it go?” Alec smiled nervously at him.  

Magnus smiled back and took in the soft features of his face.  Alec was so adorable when he smiled, and Magnus felt his anger melt away in the face of it.  

“It was fine.  Just a bit of probation,” Magnus dismissed with a wave of his hand.

Alec grasped that hand and relaxed immediately, “that’s good.  Probation is good.”  

Magnus sighed and marveled at himself.  For someone who was always so against getting dragged into shadowhunter business, here he stood.  Putting so much on the line for a man he still had yet to get to know.  Someone he’d become so enamored with in such a short amount of time.

Someone he felt was impossible to stay away from.  Not that he’d tried.  Or even wanted to try.  

Someone who Magnus believed he would truly do _anything_ to protect.   

“So is that date still on?  I have it on good authority that Raj won’t be coming in here to drag you away on the next demon hunting adventure.”  


End file.
